


Five Times Juliet O'Hara Didn't Think she'd Live to See Another Sunrise (and One Time she Did)

by RobinsonsWereHere



Series: Perfectly Balanced [1]
Category: Psych
Genre: 5+1 Things, Angst, Character Study, Episode: s04e16 Mr. Yin presents ..., F/M, Hurt/Comfort, I have a compulsive need to include Lassiet BROTP feels, Sorry Not Sorry, why are all of my fics so jules-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-01
Updated: 2019-02-01
Packaged: 2019-10-20 14:04:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17623784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobinsonsWereHere/pseuds/RobinsonsWereHere
Summary: A Character Study of Juliet, through the episode "Mr. Yin Presents".





	Five Times Juliet O'Hara Didn't Think she'd Live to See Another Sunrise (and One Time she Did)

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this while I was supposed to be doing school things, but I have eMoTiOnS about the s4 finale. Warning: Angst ahead!

I.

Juliet stares at the clue in her hand. It’s all there, no matter how cleverly it rhymes. Yin wants her to pull the lever, which will open the trap door she knows she’s standing on. What frightens her isn’t the trap door, it’s how easy it was to figure it out. Yin isn’t ignorant or foolish; he knows he’s dealing with Santa Barbara’s Finest. He expects her to realize it’s a trap, which means he’s confident in his ability to win even without the element of surprise. She looks up at Gus. He’s still saying her name, over and over, warning her not to do it. It occurs to her that this could be the last time she sees her friends. Her hand shakes as she reaches for the fake tap, but what choice does she have? This game is bigger, more important than any of them. It’s better that Juliet becomes a victim in this game before Yin can kill another innocent civilian. She takes a shuddering breath and opens her mouth to say something, then closes it again. Juliet can’t bring herself to leave Gus with the responsibility of saying her goodbyes, and anyway, it’s not like she’s giving up. The detective has to play the game if she wants to win. As she grips the lever, Juliet makes herself a promise: if she survives this, she’ll tell Shawn how she feels. 

Another deep breath. In, out.

She pulls the tap towards her

And she’s falling.

_I can make it through this._

II.

Yin had dosed Juliet with something earlier, but now she’s awake. Awake, and terrified. She’s in the back of a police cruiser (who’s cruiser? Where had Yin gotten it? Where were they going?) and next to her is a very much unconscious Abigail Lytar. She’d managed to surreptitiously check that Abigail was still breathing, but she’s worried that any further movement will tip Yin off that she’s awoken. For the past few minutes, she’s been lying still, trying to regulate her breathing, eyes closed. They flutter open on instinct as the cruiser comes to a stop. Juliet catches a glimpse of a pier as she forces herself to close them again. Unfortunately, Yin isn’t fooled. “I know you’re awake,” he almost croons. Juliet’s stomach flips as a gloved hand strokes her neck. 

_“Don’t touch me,”_ she growls, glaring at the masked man. She’d really enjoy throttling him, or at least hitting him with a solid punch, but her hands are duct taped behind her back.

“Don’t worry, Detective,” Yin says, his voice still sickeningly smooth. “This isn’t your stop.” He goes around to the other side of the cruiser, and Juliet gets a sinking feeling as she realizes that he’s going for Abigail. She can’t let that happen; the whole reason she’d played along with Yin’s game was to stop him from going after someone else. Abigail shouldn’t have to go through this, the poor girl isn’t even dating Shawn anymore. _But that doesn’t matter to Yin, does it?_ asks the voice in her head. _And Shawn will still do whatever it takes to save her. You know that and Yin knows that. So, what’s his game?_ As Juliet tries to connect the dots, Yin pulls Abigail’s limp form from the car. Juliet struggles, trying to distract him or escape or do _something,_ but he presses a cloth to her nose. She holds her breath, but it doesn’t matter. The world is slipping away, taking her chances of survival with it.

_What if I don’t make it through this?_

III.

Juliet stumbles up the stairs to the clock tower, still bleary from the effects of whatever Yin had drugged her with. _Clock tower. Why the clock tower?_ It’s got to have some connection to Hitchcock. She squeezes her eyes shut, trying to think, but then nearly trips on the next step. It’s only when he shoves her through the door at the top and onto the balcony that she understands. She’s still in _Vertigo_ \- this isn’t a clock tower, it’s the bell tower. Her chances of making it out of here are looking _really_ slim. As Yin approaches her, she notices that he has more rope now, and a chair. Juliet closes her eyes and begins to take steady, calming breaths once more. _Don’t look down,_ she tells herself.

_Don’t look down._

_Don’t look down._

_Don’t look down._

IV.

Juliet realizes, as she’s being suspended over Santa Barbara by rope, a chair, and a singular cable, what Yin’s game is. It’s so obvious that she can only shake her head at herself for not realizing it sooner. He and Yang have always been trying to torment Shawn - that’s the whole point of their game. Now he’s taken both Juliet and Abigail and literally tied them up at opposite ends of the city. She’s sure there’s going to be some kind of time limit before both of them die.

Yin’s going to make Shawn choose.

Juliet knows, then, that she’s not going to make it out alive.

V.

“Shawn you can still save Abiga-” Yin yanks the gag back around Juliet’s mouth before she can finish her desperate reassurance, but it’s enough. It has to be enough. Juliet’s beyond terrified, fear thrumming through every fiber of her being as she stares at the skyline that she normally loves. She feels weak and exhausted, all hope and optimism drained from her body. The petite detective is shivering from the cold and the adrenaline and the despair and honestly, she half wishes four-thirty would come already because she’s not sure how much more of this constant, unyielding dismay she can handle. _It’ll be worth it,_ she tells herself. _Shawn will save Abigail. Carlton will catch Yin. It’ll be worth it._

For the first time in her life, the promise of justice is not a comfort to Juliet O’Hara.

+I

The detective shakes in her partner’s arms, finally collapsing after half an hour of insisting she’s fine to the seemingly endless stream of people who want to know. The tears come now, harsh sobs tearing from her chest. Juliet feels Carlton’s arms around her and she sinks into his bony chest, glad for the feel of another warm body against her own. She’d been _so sure_ that she would die that night, nearly certain that she wouldn’t live to see the sunrise. And then Carlton had come, and Gus had forced the mechanical arm back seconds before her seemingly inevitable death. They’d saved her life and beaten Yin at his own game. Somewhere across the city, Abigail Lytar, too, was safe and sound. Juliet finally turns, jus a bit, so that she can see over the city she’d spent hours dangling above.

“The sunrise is beautiful,” She says softly, her voice muffled by Carlton’s chest.

“The sunrise?” He asks, confusion evident in his voice.

“I didn’t think I’d get to see another one,” she elaborates. He gives a long exhale, clearly unsure how to respond to that.

“O’Hara,” he finally says, “If, God forbid, anything like this ever happens again, I will find you. I found you tonight and I will do it over and over, if I have to. As long as I am alive, I will keep you safe. I promise you that.”

Juliet lets out a shuddering breath. “You can’t _promise-”_

“I promise,” he insists. “No matter the cost. That’s what partners are for.”

“Then I promise, too,” she replies. “We’ll keep each other safe, okay?”

“Deal.”

She leans into him, no longer afraid. The soft colors spreading over the city assure her she’s lived to see another day. 

If there’s one thing Juliet O’Hara is, it’s a survivor.

 

~fin~

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry! At least it had a happy ending? Let me know what you thought!


End file.
